• Not for the first time, the Hawk is wondering
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whether politicians are really the best people to make decisions about vehicles in general, and about emissions in particular.
lila recent interview published in Autocar and Motor, Roads and Traffic Minister (should that be Roadworks and Traffic Jams Minister?) Robert Atkins is quoted as follows, in response to a question about carbon dioxide emissions, which as we all know is responsible for global warming: "We were advised by technical people that we had to have catalytic converters. Now, somebody has discovered that they're going to deliver more CO2. That's a problem we're concerned about."
The Hawk would be interested to know who advised the DTp that catalysts were necessary, and if that same person pointed out that catalysts have a strictly limited life, are easily polluted by leaded petrol, don't work effectively on the short journeys most common in this country, use more fuel (hence producing more CO2), are difficult to monitor, and cost a great deal of money?
Presumably, it's this same advisor who discourages the use of the inherently more efficient diesel engine by keeping the cost of den' at a level much higher than our European neighbours. The Hawk, he say, when you're getting bad advice, get a new advisor.